Quilter PLC (LSE:QLT) saw its shares rise Wednesday as the FTSE 100-listed wealth manager posted better-than-expected full-year profits and said investor sentiment is expected to recover this year.
For the year to 31 December 2022, Quilter reported adjusted pre-tax profit of £134mln, down from £138mln a year earlier, but comfortably ahead of consensus expectations for £113mln.
The firm's assets under management and administration declined to £99.6bn from £111.8bn, with £14bn of negative market movements significantly offsetting net inflows of £1.8bn.
Quilter's investment platform saw net inflows of £2.2bn, down from £3.5bn in 2021, reflecting "an industry wide slowdown in gross flows," the company said.
In the results statement, Quilter chief executive Steven Levin commented: "The group delivered a robust set of results during 2022 against the backdrop of a recessionary global economic environment, with higher inflation, which reduced the value attributed to equity and bond investments. Accordingly, investor sentiment for wealth and savings solutions reduced during the year."
However, he added: "We anticipate investor sentiment will slowly recover this year supporting a gradual improvement in IFA net flows coupled with another strong net flow performance from the Quilter Channel and a solid out-turn from our High Net Worth segment."
Levin concluded: "The group's income levels depend to a large extent on market levels and interest rates. Assuming these remain broadly stable through 2023, then the group's adjusted profit will again depend on careful cost control as well as the pace of our focused investment in customer proposition initiatives.
"Overall, our expectation is that these factors may lead to a decline in adjusted profit for 2023, although we currently anticipate the outcome being modestly ahead of current market expectations."
Quilter hiked its recommended total dividend per share from continuing operations to 4.5p for 2022, up from 4.0p in 2021.
In morning trade, Quilter shares were up 3.9% at 92.58p.